1. THE APOSTLE PAUL TO THE THESSALONIANS 1

2. ARE YOU READY FOR THE RAPTURE? 2

3. “IF YOU LOVE ME, YOU WILL KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS.” (JOHN 14:15) “ALL THINGS ARE LAWFUL FOR ME, BUT I WILL NOT BE ENSLAVED BY ANYTHING.” (1 COR. 6:12b) “BUT WHATEVER THINGS WERE GAIN TO ME, THOSE THINGS I HAVE COUNTED AS LOSS FOR THE SAKE OF CHRIST.” (PHIL. 3:7) “AS OBEDIENT CHILDREN, DO NOT BE CONFORMED TO THE FORMER LUSTS WHICH WERE YOURS IN YOUR IGNORANCE, BUT LIKE THE HOLY ONE WHO CALLED YOU, BE HOLY YOURSELVES ALSO IN ALL YOUR BEHAVIOR; BECAUSE IT IS WRITTEN, YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY. IF YOU ADDRESS AS FATHER THE ONE WHO IMPARTIALLY JUDGES ACCORDING TO EACH ONES’S WORK, CONDUCT YOURSELVES IN FEAR DURING THE TIME OF YOUR STAY ON EARTH.” (1 PET. 1:14-17) “DO NOT BE DECEIVED, GOD IS NOT MOCKED; FOR WHATEVER A MAN SOWS, THIS HE WILL ALSO REAP.” (GAL. 6:7-8) 3

4. a.THUSFAR, WE HAVE LEARNED THAT THE TERM, RAPTURE, IS MOST CLEARLY PRESENTED IN 1 THESSALONIANS. “THEN WE WHICH ARE ALIVE AND REMAIN SHALL BE CAUGHT UP TOGETHER WITH THEM IN THE CLOUDS, TO MEET THE LORD IN THE AIR: AND SO SHALL WE EVER BE WITH THE LORD. “ (4:17) 1.THE THESSALONIANS’ IGNORANCE ABOUT THE RAPTURE CAUSED THEM TO GRIEVE FOR THOSE WHO HAD DIED. 2.IT WAS TO GIVE THEM HOPE AND TO COMFORT THEM THAT PAUL DISCUSSED THAT MOMENTOUS EVENT. 3.WE ALSO LEARNED THAT THE RAPTURE IS AN IMMINENT EVENT. THEREFORE, SINCE THE LORD CAN RETURN AT ANY MOMENT, WE SHOULD ALWAYS BE PREPARED FOR IT TO HAPPEN AT ANY MOMENT. “THE RAPTURE CAN HAPPEN TODAY!! 4

5. b.THE BLESSED HOPE OF THE RAPTURE IS BASED ON THREE UNSHAKABLE PILLARS: “FOR IF WE BELIEVE THAT JESUS DIED AND ROSE AGAIN, EVEN SO GOD WILL BRING WITH HIM THOSE WHO HAVE FALLEN ASLEEP IN JESUS. FOR THIS WE SAY TO YOU BY THE WORD OF THE LORD.” (4:14-15a) 1.THE DEATH OF CHRIST. “FOR IF WE BELIEVE THAT JESUS DIED.” (4:14a) a) “IF” DOES NOT SUGGEST UNCERTAINTY OR DOUBT, BUT RATHER LOGICAL SEQUENCE. PAUL IS SAYING, “SINCE,” OR “BASED ON THE FACT THAT “WE BELIEVE THAT JESUS DIED,” CERTAIN THINGS LOGICALLY FOLLOW. 1)HIS DEATH SATISFIED THE DEMANDS OF GOD’S RIGHTEOUSNESS, HOLINESS, AND JUSTICE BY PAYING IN FULL THE PENALTY FOR OUR SINS. 5

6. 2)BY VIRTUE OF CHRIST’S SUBSTITUTIONARY DEATH, WHEN GOD, “MADE HIM WHO KNEW NO SIN TO BE SIN ON OUR BEHALF, SO THAT WE MIGHT BECOME THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD IN HIM.” (2 COR. 5:21) 3)WE HAVE BEEN MADE ACCEPTABLE TO GOD AND THUS FIT TO BE GATHERED IN HIS PRESENCE. 4)JESUS EXPERIENCED THE FULL FURY OF DEATH IN ALL ITS DIMENSIONS AS HE, “BORE OUR SINS IN HIS BODY ON THE CROSS, SO THAT WE MIGHT DIE TO SIN AND LIVE TO RIGHTEOUSNESS..” (1 PET. 2:24) “BUT HE WAS WOUNDED FOR OUR TRANSGRESSIONS, HE WAS BRUISED FOR OUR INIQUITIES; THE CHASTISEMENT OF OUR PEACE WAS UPON HIM; AND WITH HIS STRIPES WE ARE HEALED..” (ISA. 53:5) 6